Broken Dreams 2
by ProtoRevelation
Summary: "What's happening to me?"... Just as the Death Egg Mark III is demolished, Sonic finds himself alive... or does he? He finds himself stuck in a limbo state, and must remember pieces of his past to escape. Meanwhile, in reality, a family of archeologists enlists a survivor and a treasure hunter to uncover the secrets of the Inner Demon... "Mephiles". Chapter 6 is up!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"What's happening to me?"

My words merely stayed a thought, and my body couldn't manage to do anything with it. It was this small detail that I couldn't quite understand. I was lost in my own head… both literally and mentally. But I had a good reason to be lost in my own head… considering every piece of it was beginning to fall apart.

"Sonic, keep going." The elderly voice pleaded. "You've almost done it."

My legs crumbled beneath me, and my hands fell before me as the sandy winds rushed past me. I could feel my entire being just splitting apart. All of my memories… they were becoming hazy. I was losing my own life. I was losing myself.

But it wasn't just me in jeopardy.

"Which Sonic…" I coughed up, "… are you talking to?"

And soon, I felt it; a tremor rumbled within my heart, and I started to lose any sort of control. I started spitting and screaming, involuntarily as my own life started to flash before my eyes. And somehow, I saw something that I had never seen before.

I could see me… sitting in darkness. It seemed so different to see me in such a place. I never considered myself a dark person. I mean… maybe Shadow… but never someone like me. But even if that was the case, that didn't stop from seeing me in the black and believing that it was truly me.

I could see my head rise up, and I saw his eyes glow green. I had black eyes… completely black eyes. The only thought I was capable of putting together was, _why would my eyes be green?_

Crack! Another quake seemed to break my bones, yet still leave me alive and well. It almost seemed like something in my body just… up and left. And soon, the pain was too great, and I relaxed my arms, falling into the sandy hills running beneath me.

"What was… what did I just do?" I mumbled as black consumed my eyes and shut them up for good.

"You lost yourself. And you can't get yourself back."

"But… but I'm… still here. Sonic's… still here."

"I wasn't talking about you, Sonic… I was talking about the **other** you."

I felt a rush of anger before finally dozing off in the desert plains once again.

"…Maurice."

* * *

**Welcome to Broken Dreams 2.**


	2. Intervention

**Act I/Chapter I: Intervention**

**Tuesday, June 18****th**

"Sonic!" Silver yelled to the blue blur. "Leave here! Now!"

"I'm not letting you fight this thing alone!" Sonic replied.

The telekinetic hedgehog looked at the lava pit.

"I'll have him down and out in no time!" He guaranteed.

"Just fix yourself! I'll take him on!" Sonic yelled back.

"No, you won't!" Silver proclaimed.

Silver stood up, and began to sprint towards Sonic. The beast started to charge the blue blur down. It leapt into the air, about to take Sonic's head by the neck. Silver had hopped into the wolf's biting range. The beast opened its jaw, and then crunched. Silver had bumped into the beast, but they were now beginning to fall into the pit. Sonic reached out for Silver's hand. From under the beast, Silver reached for his friend's. They got close, but all that the blue blur grabbed onto was Silver's telekinetic wrist ring. Pulling only that away, Silver fell into the lava pit, the beast holding him within its mouth.

But all was not as it seemed.

Since Sonic threw his head away from Silver's sight, he did not see the end of it all. Sonic would realize… only a minute or two after this… what Silver had done.

Silver groaned, the beast's teeth digging deep into his skin. But a small glow came from his right wrist ring.

_Still got it_, Silver thought to himself.

Soon, Silver gave a glow from all over, and his body was suddenly suspended in midair, as the beast seemed to abruptly let go and sink into the lava pit below.

He had survived. He had won… but at a cost. He was scratched up badly from the fight, his arms and chest bleeding. Seeking leverage, he lifted himself near the wall of the lava pit and broke apart a small hole in the wall. Slipping his arm through, he clinged onto the wall and began to rest himself.

_Jesus, that was close,_ Silver thought as he heaved heavy breaths.

"WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME? WHY?" He suddenly heard from above.

The white hedgehog pitched his head upward, as if to get a peek at what was happening.

_That was Sonic,_ Silver's mind assumed. _I should tell him I'm here._

But before he got the chance to raise his voice (even though he had lost any energy to do so), the blue blur's yells from above seemed to become more desperate.

"Oh, god! I need to move!" Silver heard.

Silver thought it strange that Sonic only thought of Silver for a moment and then moved on to his other business. However, Silver did agree that they were here for their own business… or at least tried to make him agree. Nevertheless, he understood Sonic's haste. He said he had to save Amy… no need to stop for some guy with his arm stuck in the wall.

The pitter-patter of Sonic's shoes against the metal plating seemed to distance itself from Silver, and a crashing noise filled the room. Sonic had left, and Silver was alone… stuck in a lava pit.

"Okay, time to get out." The white hedgehog whispered to himself.

He used the telekinesis on himself once more, and he pulled his arm out of the hole. He began to slowly lift himself up out of the pit, the sizzling bubbles from below lowering to minor whispers as he ascended.

He pulled himself over the ledge, but, as he hovered, his right wrist seemed to twitch. Instantly, Silver lost his sense of flight and fell onto the metal plating. He felt his wrist twitch again, more spastically than before. He latched onto it, but was met with a shockwave into his fingers. Before he could figure a better way out, teal fire seemed to erupt from his wrist, blinding him.

Looking back after a moment, he no longer saw his telekinesis ring. It had been blown apart.

"Took too much damage, I guess." Silver assumed.

The powerless hedgehog began to raise himself up, but his wounds didn't hesitate to burn his chest and arms when the time was present. The fire within his battle marks tried to pull him back down, but Silver fought it. He had come to the Metropolis Zone to find out where Blaze was… if he could get to her… and he had figured it out. The Chaos Emeralds were the key. He just had to find them… and he knew they weren't here.

Silver believed that Sonic had the Emeralds… not presently, of course. However, he did think that Tails, Sonic's best friend, would definitely have them in his workshop. And so it was settled; he was going to find Tails and get the Chaos Emeralds. He was getting to the Sol Dimension… no matter the cost.

Of course, he didn't consider the problem of limping in his plan.

Turns out he had scratches on his legs, too. But even with the pain eating him up, he still fought ahead through the tall cathedral-like tunnel, searching for its end.

The walk seemed harsh and terrible, but Silver's feet urged him to keep moving. Blaze would wait for him… Blaze WAS waiting for him… he just knew it. He had to keep going. Otherwise, there would be no point to what he had done before. Everything he had done leading up to this new revelation would be in vein. There was no way he was letting Blaze… himself… or anyone down like this.

But a small quake within the metal plates of the hall rocked him back into reality.

An alarm was sounding, and an artificial female voice rose from the speakers. But because of the sudden breaking of panels and gears, it sounded like a woman was shrieking through them.

"Self-destruct sequence initiated… 1 minute remaining."

"Great..." Silver said with a scent of sarcasm, "… just what I freaking needed."

And soon, seconds seemed to be counting faster than Sonic seemed to fix time with his past self. In another light or situation, it may have seemed incredible for something like this to happen. But this was the timer of the self-destruct sequence… and Silver had only half a mile through shifty corridors to even grasp the exit handle, let alone pull it.

"0:30 seconds remaining…" The speakers announced.

Silver's mind was racing with absolute uncertainty. _How have 30 seconds gone by already? Am I just too weak to even know how long it's been?_

Knowing Silver, he just might have been… even without the injuries.

Darkness seemed to seep into his eyes. He was falling unconscious… but rather slowly. He flopped over his knees and fell headfirst into the wall of a hallway. He slid down the metal plates, and leaned himself against it whilst sitting in pain. There was nowhere to go.

"So this is it." The white hedgehog stated with a raspy tone. "This is not how I wanted to go… though that's not a good thing to think about."

The seconds counted down, but the announcer was beginning to sound like mumbles, almost like a muffled horn. Silver was losing himself, knowing for certain that he would lose consciousness and be blown to pieces. He was going to die sleeping… wow, that really doesn't sound like the way to go, huh?

Silver, though his eyes were collapsing, could feel the banging and crashing metal against the floor of the hallway. Everything was falling apart, and he couldn't a single damn thing about it.

He could feel the flames for a second, and then there was nothing.

Like, literally… it felt like there was nothing.

The last that Silver had seen… just before his eyelids draped over his pupils… was a bright light… the Sun… shining through what looked like trees. Was this heaven? The Sol dimension, even? Blaze… he must've made it somehow.

And so Silver fell asleep… for a while.

* * *

**Wednesday, June 19****th**

The look on Knux's face spelt the word "hopeless". He wouldn't dare believe his eyes. He had been watching—with the desire to know how everything was going down—the sky… specifically the sphere that was invaded it peaceful appearance.

Knuckles saw the enormous casing of the orb… just crack. He thought it would be days until the thing was gone, but now, only minutes from when his two best friends (or at least he regarded them as his best friends), the station was being blown apart with fantastical green bursts of light in its wake. It was done; the station… the Death Egg Mark III… it was destroyed. And it slowly began to drift back down through the atmosphere. But that was not what worried Knuckles… that was not why his face spelt "hopeless".

His friends… his only two real friends… the two Mobians who had always tried to be on his side… were now gone. The green flames had vanquished them, and Knuckles knew it. Sure, the two heroes had brought the Chaos Emeralds with them… but not even a super form could survive that. Even if the emeralds somehow were raised to Super Emerald level… Knuckles knew it wouldn't work. They were both dead… it was hopeless.

He looked at his team… the team that Sonic had assembled to combat the dastardly man behind all of this. Everyone's face said something… maybe even everything… about him or her.

The Babylon Rogues… felons who were basically in this fight as a manner of community service… seemed indifferent about the ordeal. They didn't know too much about Sonic. He simply stopped them, and that's about all the meat they had. When that Death Egg blew up, they didn't have much to feel. Their "detainer" was now gone… that didn't change where they stood; they were still in jail. Sonic did nothing much for them.

Rouge… an agent of the government who had arranged military forces against the remaining Badniks… seemed horrified at Sonic's sudden death. Not as horrified as someone like Amy, but this was definitely not what she expected as the outcome of this battle. He was a hero of Mobius… the government knew that.

The Chaotix… a team of investigators that Knuckles used to lead on expeditions… all had different faces. Charmy was balling his eyes out, since Sonic had helped him deal with Mighty's passing. Vector, though he was crying a lot as well, fought to keep a strong expression anchored on his face. Vector had lots of respect for Sonic and his work, and he always wished that, like Sonic, his team could go adventures like they used to. Espio… well, he just looked at it. His face didn't seem to change much. It seemed as though death meant nothing to him. And it didn't.

And Amy… oh, dear lord… Amy was absolutely demolished. Knuckles knew it… Rouge knew it… hell, everybody knew it: she loved Sonic… and Sonic loved her. Knuckles had no real concept of love. Truthfully, he did like Rouge, but he never really considered it love. But Sonic and Amy… even if Knux didn't know true love, he was sure that those two hedgehogs were pretty damn close to it.

And so Knuckles looked back at the dispersing sphere of doom. The green flames seem to remain stagnant, but small specks were beginning to dissolve into space. And all Knuckles could think about… as the Death Egg slowly fell back down to Mobius and everyone around seemed absolutely horrified… was if his father would be either proud of Sonic's sacrifice and what it stood for, or ashamed that Knuckles didn't go up with his blue friend… and save him.

The real question was… would he really have saved him? I'm not saying that Knuckles wouldn't be capable of pulling it off if someone was there. He obviously could. But why put out that much effort… when it turns out that no one needed to be saved… if instead, the entire event had been prepared for.

To put it simply… someone, who is not supposed to take any risks, took their chances… and "intervened".

* * *

**Wednesday, June 26****th**

"You… you mean that…?" Tikal said.

"The ends haven't come…" the master repeated once more, "…not yet."

She could only stare in shock as the master finished before heading out of the chamber.

"He has one thing left to do."

* * *

**Hello, everybody! It's Proto once again! Hope I wasn't gone too long!**

**Broken Dreams 2! Woohoo! I thought it'd never happen, but it turns out that it did. It's been a long time coming, hasn't it? Don't worry, I'm happy, too. For those who have read the first Broken Dreams, continue to read on (when the next chapter appears), and for those who are new to Broken Dreams… well, I'd hope that you would read the first one before reading this. Otherwise, not much will make sense.**

**Furthermore, I want to point something out. This goes for everyone who has read Broken Dreams 1: in case you didn't notice (which you probably didn't), I've updated Broken Dreams 1 with a new epilogue. I'd advise reading the last chapter and then reading the epilogue. This is a whole different sequel from what I was originally working on with Chuck. That project is discontinued; this story is the new Broken Dreams 2… and feels vastly superior to the other version.**

**So, please take the time to read the new epilogue. That way, you can enjoy what Broken Dreams 2 has to offer.**

**Also, guess what's coming back? Drum roll please! … REQUESTS!**

**I'm expanding a bit on this. Like Broken Dreams 1, you can request to see a character (make sure it hasn't been requested already in BD1), a stage (it can be any stage, classic to modern, and, again, nothing from BD1,), or something I've just chosen to let you request: events in Sonic's life.**

**Sonic's past is something we don't really know. Remember, this is a completely different Sonic from the one in the games. My story **_**Façade**_** offers a beginning of his tale as a hero, for those who don't know. However, if you would like to see my interpretation of Sonic going through a stage or beating a boss… anything that Sonic has done in past games… go ahead and request it. You'll se why this is important in the next chapter. I'll let you know when certain requests aren't needed anymore, but that won't be for a while.**

**And hey… Broken Dreams has over 7,000 views! I feel fantastic right now, not gonna lie!**

**Alright, sorry, had to tell you guys a lot of stuff. Anyways, if you have any questions, please PM me or leave it in the review. And by all means… review & request! God, it's good to say that again! Read ya later!**


	3. You'll Remember

**Act I/Chapter II: "You'll Remember"**

**Wednesday, June 19****th**

I closed my eyes. I felt something big detach from the ceiling from right above us and I knew it was the end.

I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, and this is how I…

* * *

… fell into sand? Wait a minute… wasn't I just… I thought I was… the Death Egg… the laser… Tails… where's Tails?

Face-first into the sand I went. And soon, I found myself throwing my arms around like a maniac. What in the hell was going on? When was there sand in the Death Egg? However, after a quick pat and rub of my eyelids, my vision soon returned… and somehow I was not pleased… and I almost just died!

Out in front of me… right beneath me… all around me for thousands upon thousands of miles… sat desert. Piles of desert claimed the horizon. It seemed to give off a pale tan texture, almost like it was bleached. The sky seemed so… desolate. The entire sky had clouds roaming around, with a light gray emitting from beyond it. The whole… world, I guess you could call it… was sick and pale of color. It felt so… alien.

Soon, it occurred to me that I was not on Mobius anymore. There was no place on my planet that looked even remotely like the rolling sand dunes that went on for ages… okay, maybe Sandopolis, but at least there was a temple somewhere close by.

The sight of this new land seemed frightening, but I knew only one thing, and one thing for sure: Tails wasn't with me. And so, I started shouting.

"Tails?" My voice sounded shrill as I yelped for my brother. "Tails? Come on out, lil' bro!"

No answer.

"Something tells me this isn't something in your virtual reality room… then again, you can barely get a hologram to function."

I slapped myself after that one. This was no time to insult the little guy.

"Tails… you're here, right?!"

A hum sounded from behind me, and my ear twitched as I locked up my muscles tight.

"I'm afraid he is not here." A voice sounded from behind me.

I really shouldn't have been nervous. I mean, Robotnik had just died and the Death Egg, from what I could tell, was destroyed. The worst had happened… so no need to fear any longer. But even so, I felt myself slowly turn myself to the speaker. I shouldn't have been afraid, but I was afraid nonetheless. On the bright side, I also found out I wasn't crazy… there actually was someone behind me, floating in the air.

It wasn't someone I had expected; it was a dragon. However, this one was not serpentine and monstrous. This dragon took the form of a Mobian, with dragon-like features. In some ways, he reminded me of a hedgehog, except his ears were horns, his quills were the spikes that would line a dragon's back, and his wings were the length of his arm span. He wasn't incredibly tall or anything. In fact, he was about my height. Marveling at this sight, I also noticed that he had an aura to his stature, as if he had a sort of superpower.

He dropped himself in the sand just in front of me and dusted himself off slightly. Though he seemed like no trouble, I proceeded with much caution.

"Well…" I spoke up, "… I suppose my first question is obvious."

"Straight to the point…" He agreed, "… I like that in a person."

He shifted his arms to hold hands behind him, and bean to slowly trudge through the grains of sand towards me.

"My name is Hazel." He told me. "From what you can see, I'm a dragon. Or… at least I was."

"What is this place, Hazel?" I asked.

He chuckled a little to himself, as if this entire desert thing was a prank. His small snicker was one that never came out that often. His voice felt incredibly shallow, like But he cleaned up his attitude and proceeded to explain.

"This… well, it's kind of hard to explain without you getting absolutely confused."

He took a deep breath before continuing onward.

"This… is your mind."

Confused… that was about the right word for this moment. Guess he was right. I began to peer around and take in the fact that nothing was in the desert.

"My mind?"

Hazel took another breath. He sounded like he was telling me something that I shouldn't have ever known, like he was originally reluctant in explaining all of this.

"Yes… this is your mind."

I knew it wasn't really the time to joke, but the emptiness was really beginning to bother me.

"Is it usually this 'lively' in my mind?" I asked with a smirk plastered on my face.

Hazel gave a smirk back. Well, good to know he's okay with humor and such.

"Not exactly." He went on. "Here, walk with me for a moment. I'll explain everything."

* * *

And so we started to walk towards the sun, its glow peering around the shape of the gray clouds. There was loads of bright down in the desert, and yet everything had this dank and mysterious feel to it. It was something I had never seen that often… if you count my most recent endeavors into the equation. In any case, Hazel went on and on about this desert… which was apparently my mind.

"How is this my mind?" I asked, though he probably knew I'd ask it since his answer came out so quickly.

"Your mind has been scattered. It's been messed with. You're in here because your mind… even your life… is broken. I'm here to help you fix it."

"Wait, what do you my life is 'broken'?" I inquired. "Is this another weird time-travel thing? Am I gonna meet my past self again?"

"It's not… necessarily time-travel… but it has something to do with time."

I relaxed a little as he began to explain further.

"You see… I'm not just some random Mobian in your mind. I'm a demigod. I was sent here to help fix your mind. But the thing is that… right now… time has frozen. In the real world, you are—physically, right now—floating in a rigid state. Everything is."

He knew I'd ask why, so he kept going.

"One of the gods… up in our realm… the Master.., he did something to you. He… intervened, I guess you could call it."

"Intervened?" I repeated, as if I had never heard of the word before.

"Yes… it's basically defined as 'tampering with the world at hand'. Up in our realm, gods… like the Master… are not supposed to mess with worlds. That includes Mobius. If someone is meant to die in a fiery explosion, then they'd die in a fiery explosion. But the Master knew you were going to die, and… well, we formed a plan."

"So… you guys saved me?" I pieced together.

"Sort of." Hazel corrected. "You see, the Master has used a transportation spell on you. I don't know where you'll end up, but he's taking out of harm's way."

"Wait, then why are you here?" I asked.

"Demigods are assigned to specific people. They work to keep someone's life in check, usually when their life is in danger. If someone was dying and people were working to bring them back to life, then, on the inside of their mind, they are here. They are stuck in a desert… their desert."

Well, at least it wasn't just my mind that was bleached and desolate.

"Demigods are the guides for those in the desert." He went on. "They work to bring them back to life… back into living."

"So… am I dying right now? I thought you said the Master… whoever that is… saved me."

"He did… but he's not supposed to save you. In fact, people have done it too many times. Tell me… do you remember a lady… an echidna… by the name of Tikal?"

I tried to remember, and then I realized something: my mind was drawing blanks. I was getting fragments of memories, sure… but I couldn't recall a lot of the details in my life… I couldn't even remember my name. I had forgotten most of them. But even so, the name sounded familiar to me.

"I do recall that name." I confirmed. "Is she important?"

"Very." He replied. "She was one of the first few goddesses to intervene with the events on Mobius. In fact, she did it with six people. That's enough to make the space-time continuum go mad. But that wasn't the only time that the gods have messed with Mobian lives. There were many times we have intervened, including when you went into the white space to restore time with your past self."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I strongly admitted. "Mobius? White space? Past self? What have I been doing?"

"Oh… yeah, that's another problem." Hazel seemed to confess. "You see, the reason time is stopped right now is because it has been fractured. The gods and goddesses have messed with time so much that, when the Master tried to save you, it counted as the last straw for the space-time continuum. As of right now, there is a gigantic tear in space-time, and it's because you survived. That was never meant to happen… but it happened."

"But why when I almost died? Why not when someone else died?" I inquired.

"Everyone experiences this. You just never notice anyone else having something like this. Though I guess now you will. In any case, you're important in this dimension. Very important. That is why space-time is tearing itself apart… because your sacrifice was important, and yet it didn't occur."

"But… you know things that I assume I… should remember. Why can't I?" I asked, knowing I was sucking so much of his time right now… or so I thought.

"Space-time is being destroyed." Hazel repeated. "The only way to put it back together is to have you remember."

I was perplexed, tilting my head in a curious manner. He expected as much, though.

"Because time is frozen and it thinks you are important, your life is being torn apart much like it is too. That's why you can't remember… because time's weakness is your weakness."

This did seem to make sense in my head. Though it is a bit narcissistic of me to say it, I felt pretty damn awesome about time thinking I was important. But something was troubling me: Hazel said I couldn't remember anything, and yet… I had remembered… Tails. How did I remember Tails? Yes, Tails is my lil' bro, way past cool kid and all… but why could I remember him and only him? I didn't ask Hazel about it though. I felt that I was taking up too much of his time anyway.

"So how am I going to remember? Am I just going to sit here for years and then have it all come back to me?" I suggested jokingly.

"Nothing like that at all. As I said before, in the physical world, time is frozen; but in here… in here, we have all the time we need. But that doesn't mean you have to stay forever."

* * *

When we stopped, it felt like we had been walking for hours, and yet I felt fresh as a fiddle. Hazel, after taking a glance at me, turned his attention to the horizon. Slowly, he lifted his hand in front of him, and seemed to present his palm to the sky. Bit by bit, he closed his fingers into his palm. The ground started to rumble, and Hazel took a quick look at me once again.

"This is where I come in." He stated.

In a matter of moments, I could see, not too far off from where we stood, a large patch of sand was beginning to rise up. For one moment, it seemed to float up on its own, but it quickly slid down back into the grainy depths, a massive land-like shape taking its place. The process of pulling this… thing… out of the sand was going smoothly, and Hazel seemed so used to it… like he had done this a million times. Maybe demigods got training or something, I don't know… I never really got around to asking.

In any case, I seized the occasion to see what he was getting at.

"What exactly are you doing?" I asked bluntly.

Hazel slowly threw his head my way.

"I never told you, huh?" He responded, surprised that it was never stated before. "Well, what a demigod does specifically is not just hit you in the head and make you remember. You have to re-experience the memory to fully remember it. This thing I'm pulling up… it's a memory… a place you've been. An event took place here, and, once you see it, you'll remember a small piece of your life."

"How will I know if I remember it?" I asked nervously.

Hazel patted me on the shoulder like we were best friends.

"Trust me… Sonic the Hedgehog… you'll remember."

And I thought to myself, _Sonic… that's a nice name. I think I'll keep it._

* * *

**Hello, everybody! Proto again! Hope you enjoyed Chapter II of Broken Dreams 2! I'm lovin' this! Plus, I'm writing these chapters quickly and well. This is very surprising; it's like I was supposed to write all along! From what I've seen in responses to Broken Dreams 2, I can see why I should've written it sooner.**

**Also, I hope you like my new character, made especially for this story: Hazel the Dragon… or, at least that's what he looks like. He is a demigod that hung out with the Master and Tikal from the epilogue of BD1. Strange how we're moving back in time from that epilogue. To an extent, BD2 sort of takes place during the end of BD1. Kinda neat, huh?**

**Just to clarify, some chapter will be spent in Sonic's point of view, while others will focus on the other characters. It'll help give different perspectives, which, in my opinion, will be less boring.**

**Act I is called "Limbo". You'll see why later.**

**I need people to send in requests for what this particular event will be. Remember: it must be an event in Sonic's life… something you'd like to see more of. If you want a Sonic and Tails moment from the past (for instance, one of their first adventures), you could throw it my way, and I'll see what I can do. Send the requests in; what are interested to see from Sonic's life?**

**Anyways, if you have any questions, PM me or put in the review… and, by all means, please Review & Request! Read ya later!**


	4. New Faces & Empty Spaces

**Act I/Chapter III: New Faces & Empty Spaces**

**Tuesday, June 18****th**

"So you just found him in the forest?" A toughened voice inquired.

"Sure did. He was muffled up in some brush, but he was there clear as day." A youthful teen voice answered.

"What made you think of bringing him here?"

"I think he could help us, sir."

"Are you sure we should let some stranger wander into our expedition?"

"We need more people, and you know that."

"We don't need strangers here, Tia. This is our family history. There's no need to-."

"Wait… wait, sir. I—I think he's waking up!"

And so Silver woke up.

His eyes struggled at first, but the fact that he was on a rather comfortable bed seemed to ease his fight to see. He took in the comfort as his eyes slowly began to open.

He heard footsteps approaching, yet he really had no quarrel with anyone. For all he knew, Robotnik was gone and Sonic had won. No need to fight no more. But something puzzled further just after remembering his encounter with Sonic at the Metropolis Zone… didn't he just die?

"Gosh, it's good to see you're alive and well." The youthful voice said to Silver.

Though his eyes were still adjusting, the white hedgehog was beginning to piece together his surroundings. He was in a sort of wooden structure… almost like a cabin. He was in a small, single-bed room, with at least enough space to pace back and forth across the room about some nationwide crisis. As he began to remember how to move again, the youth finally appeared in his view.

She was now standing just next to the bed, and Silver nearly jumped when he noticed her. But after the slight bit of a scare that Silver had, he began to see who she was: she was a wolf. Her appearance seemed soft-spoken, with her black slip-on shoes, traditional-looking purple robes on her torso, and traditional-looking pants to match. By traditional, I mean something resembles a part of a culture. Her clothes seemed so artful, yet very subtle in their appearance.

"Are you okay, sir?" she asked in an innocent tone.

Well, she obviously wasn't a threat. However, Silver seemed overwhelmed… not by the fact that she was no threat, but the fact that he had been staring at her for more than 5 seconds. He tried to say something, but he was in a daze.

"Uh…" he started off, "… uh… yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I just, uh… I just… haven't been up for a while. That's all."

Somehow, he hadn't questioned anything that was going on right then.

"I could see why you hadn't when I found you. You looked like a bear had tried to eat you for lunch."

Silver snickered at her lesser knowledge of what Silver had been through.

"Yeah. A bear…" He repeated. "Well, I gave that bear a fair beating, too. I'll tell you that much."

She giggled a little at his remark. She was so innocuous that Silver felt right at home… he wished he still had a home.

He peered down at himself, and saw rolls of bandages and tape wrapped portions of his arms, legs, and chest. He could feel the rigidness in his bones. Obviously, the beast had gotten him pretty bad.

"You… bandaged me up?" He asked, surprised at the wolf's kind gesture to do so.

"Of course I did." The wolf replied. "I wouldn't bring you here and let you just die in a bed. I wanted to help."

_I wanted to help,_ the words repeated in Silver's head. _I wanted to help…_

Finally, Silver started to wonder where in the hell he was now. He thought he died in a fiery explosion. But first, he had to work his way through formalities.

"Sorry…" Silver nervously apologized. He always seemed to be nervous when it came to girls. "… I should've asked before: what's your name?"

"Oh, sorry" she apologized in return "… my name's Tia… the Wolf, if you couldn't figure that out on your own."

_Tia…_

"Tia? That's a nice name. Good name to give to someone like you."

Silver didn't quite catch it, but he could've sworn that she had blushed slightly. If so, he never planned to do it. It was just him being nice, that was all.

"By the way," Silver mentioned to Tia, "while I was waking up, I think I heard you talking to someone."

"Oh… yes." Tia confirmed, though she sounded like she didn't want to. "That was my father."

Silver was beginning to wonder just what the hell he had gotten himself into.

* * *

"Tia? What's going on? Is the boy up yet?" The toughened voice bellowed out.

"Coming, Father!" Tia called out to him.

Silver followed Tia out of the cramped room into a small wooden hallway, which was lined with subtle lamplights. Upon exiting, they found themselves in an open area, which was half living room, half kitchen/dining room. The wooden texture to the house-cabin… thing… seemed very quaint to Silver, and he almost felt like he was in the typical Mobian home.

Over in the kitchen, standing next to the wooden countertop complete with a sink, a dishwasher, and cupboards, stood a taller and darker-coated wolf. He seemed much older than Tia (whom Silver assumed was 16… so about his age)… to be exact, he believed him to be in his 40s, at least. No man would sound this gruff and tough if he was 20.

Tia approached her father with a stroke of confidence, yet Silver seemed quite nervous about the whole situation… I mean, he did just survive a fiery explosion and end up in a very nice house. It seemed so strange to him. Was this whole thing a dream? Or… was the fiery explosion a dream? Or… was he dead?

"Well, you didn't bring a dead man in." The father croaked with a chuckle. "That's good to know."

Okay, now Silver felt more uneasy about this than he thought he would. Tia's dad just complimented him on not being dead… who just does that?

"Father…" Tia began, "This is Silver… the…"

Tia seemed to draw a blank on something, and Silver was completely oblivious to it. She began to look at him as he knew how to finish the sentence, but Silver was utterly clueless. Soon, the father squinted at him.

"What exactly are you, son?" He questioned.

In a way, Silver was scared by the dad's question, but he soon figured out that Tia was requesting his species.

"Oh, yeah… I'm a hedgehog."

Tia seemed slightly surprised that Silver was a hedgehog… he couldn't really place why though. Her father nodded with a mumbled "okay" lifting from his throat. Thankfully, the father decided to exchange his greeting.

"Well, good to meet you, Silver. My name is Harkness."

He offered his hand, and Silver gladly shoke it. He'd do anything to get on good relations with these people… considering they were his only possible way out of there.

"Now, why exactly are you here, Silver?" Harkness asked with a trace of doubt beginning to linger in his response to Silver's answer.

"I… just… kinda dropped in… really." He admitted. "I was in some…" He hesitated in his amount of detail, "… building at one point, and then I was here. I assume that's when you found me."

"I heard a thump down near the tall trees. I had to check, Father." Tia explained.

"So…" he began to doubt, "… you just… fell into the forest?"

Silver humbly said, "Yes."

Harkness's face was dripping with doubt. In words, it spelt "bullshit".

"From the sky?"

Silver hesitated in his response again, "… no."

"Well, you fell from somewhere, boy. People don't just show up in the middle of the dang forest like it's open season."

Silver tried to get his way out of this… he really did. He didn't want to sound theatrical and dumb, saying that he was in a fiery explosion and was suddenly saved by… wait, what the heck even saved him? Or was he even saved? Oh, it's the death thing all over again.

"Father, something bad obviously happened to him, and we took care of him." Tia stated. "We don't need to interrogate our guest."

"Oh…" Harkness remarked with a condescending tone. "So he's a 'guest' now?"

Silver really didn't want to witness any family tensions, so he decided to ask a question that he should've asked from the start.

"Sorry to interrupt the impending family feud, but I need to know something… where exactly are we?"

Tia and Harkness, though still feeling slightly argumentative, decided to put aside the issue of Silver's story and focus on the location.

"Well… have you ever been to Westside Island, my boy?" Harkness asked, almost sounding like a wild-west sherif.

"I've never heard of it, sir." He replied.

Harkness gave a strange look, but soon continued.

"Well," He started as he patted Silver's shoulder, "you're about to."

* * *

**Sunday, June 23****th**

Knuckles disliked being on South Island.

At least, he used to. You see, ever since Sonic fought against Fang with him, he began to take a liking to the Mobians that inhabited South Island. Little by little, as Sonic continued to help Knuckles with his problems, the red echidna began to prefer living amongst the people that Sonic worked so long and hard to protect. And now that he was gone…

The emerald guardian always took a trip down to South Island in every single speck of the day he could. Ever since Sonic's absence, things had changed on the island. Knuckles wanted to see how everything was going. In a way, he was the only one that could see what Sonic meant to everyone… not just on South Island, but Mobius as a whole.

Every day usually went the same. He visited everybody he knew, checked to see how they were doing, and worked to cheer them up. Among the large list of folks (most of which Sonic had known while the rest of his friends didn't) were the Chaotix, Omochao, and Amy. He always visited the first two, but Amy… she was more difficult to get out of her house and talk. And it was pretty obvious why. It was quite a big list to cover, but he always managed to see everybody, no matter the patience or desperation needed.

* * *

"How are things, Vector?" Knux asked his former partner.

The Chaotix were still in their little investigation hut, living amongst their "moral victories". However, because of their involvement in the assault on Robotnik, they had been given a huge grant of money to reestablish their business. A little more clients had come about, more money was rolling in, and more bills were being paid. The team seemed to be on the rise.

Vector sat at his mahogany desk, his few retro and quirky desk ornaments surrounding his workplace… including a hula girl. The croc's face was always charmed to see Knuckles, but ever since Sonic left… there seemed to be a bit of age on his person. His voice didn't crack as much any more, and was slightly deeper than before. It almost seemed that Vector had slightly… matured.

"Business is on the rise, Knux." The croc announced. "I'm really pleased with how everything has turned out. The team is really beginning to like the new look. And guess what? The beds came in today! I might just be the happiest investigator on South Island."

Knuckles chuckled. "That might be because you are the only investigator on South Island."

"And that's why I'm the happiest." Vector said with a smirk, turning to the radio to mess with the music stations again.

"How are Charmy and Espio doing?" The echidna inquired.

Vector's finger slipped from the radio dial. He soon gained the composure to lift his hand back up to the power dial and switch it off. He turned with a more weakened face, though his will to speak about anything that related to… him… was ever so strong.

"Well…" the seasoned croc coerced himself to say, "Charmy, as you would guess, is still not taking it well. He meant a lot to him."

"I heard about that." Knuckles stated. "He helped the little guy come to terms with Mighty's passing, right?"

Vector simply nodded. It was obvious he didn't want to speak about this, but his eyes told Knuckles to continue… it was a matter that needed to be discussed, after all.

"What about Espio?" Knuckles pressed on. "Is he taking things well?"

"He's not taking anything… that's the problem." Vector agitatedly said.

"What? Why? What's he doing?"

"That's just it… nothing. Remember, Knuckles, he's a ninja… or, at least he's supposed to be. The guy was raised by people who had no soft spots for emotions and crap like that; they believed it to be nonsense. And Espio… he just doesn't seem capable of showing emotion. He's like a… Vulcan from Star Trek… except with ninja stars and karate chops."

Knuckles was always troubled by Espio's emotional state. The man had no compassion… no mercy… simply a ruthless reputation. Sure, he seemed harmless and philosophical, but Knuckles knew his true face; behind that concrete wall of unchanged expression was a beast, lurking in the shadows. Espio, as Knuckles saw it, had his Inner Demon out of line. Then, as Knuckles began to think further, maybe everyone had their Inner Demons… and they just never really knew it.

But he soon snapped out of his train of thought and returned to Vector.

"I'm worried about him too, Vec. Believe me. I've had my eye on him since Day One."

"Then why don't you do something about it, then?" Vector insisted. "I'm going crazy when I try to go to sleep just thinking about it!"

"Vector, you can't just change someone's feelings like that. Besides, I'm not going to manipulate one of my former colleagues."

The croc seemed to age further as he let out a deep sigh of defeat. But the emerald guardian didn't want to leave things like that.

"Listen," Knuckles remedied the croc's depression, "I know it's troubling to know people can be like that, but you have to accept it. And you know what? He's gonna be put in his place someday. Maybe not today… maybe not tomorrow… but someday, he will change. But you can't force changes. Changes form over time. You have to be patient, Vec. Espio is a normal guy… you just have to have faith."

And with that, Knuckles left the Chaotix. He began to weave his way through the streets, out towards the forests. As he passed by department stores and food marts, small posters began to catch his eyes. To anyone else, they were kid's scribbles and drawings sprawled across the glass of a small store. But to Knuckles… they were banners of devotion.

On these small pieces of paper… were little drawings of Sonic. Everywhere he looked, he seemed to spot loads of artwork devoted to the blue blur. And every few seconds, someone would stop by a picture and seem to take in what it meant. Okay… maybe not everyone thought it was just drawings plastered on a window.

And Knuckles felt the pain worsen on his shoulders. Sonic had meant so much the world… so much so that people posted anything they could to help generation after generation know who he was. It almost seemed so tragic for Knuckles… Sonic was the hero of the entire planet… and he would never be able to see what ha had made: a beacon of hope.

* * *

"Would you care for some refreshments, Red?" A chipper toned robotic voice sounded as Knuckles leaned himself against a nearby window.

"If you truly want to, little guy…" the red echidna answered, "…thanks, by the way."

Omochao… the annoying British robot that Sonic had rescued from Robotnik's grasp… was still around. He had been residing over in Tails's workshop. But it felt weird… with Tails not living there or Sonic not breaking something. It felt empty in a way. Fortunately, Omochao's more proper and gentleman-like manners always seemed to perk Knuckles up.

The robot hovered over with a cup of coffee, offering it to the echidna. He slowly grasped the handle and took a small sip before continuing with his visit.

"You doing well down here, Omochao?" He asked.

"My work has been very proficient. I've been cleaning up small dust bunnies and such for the past few days, but the workshop is beginning to look how it was when the doctor was around."

Omochao made it sound like Sonic had been gone for years. And Knuckles had to admit… Omochao had done a pretty decent job cleaning up the place.

"It does look like it used to… I'll give you that." Knuckles commented before sipping his coffee again.

"How are processes being handled at your home?" Omochao formally asked.

"It's been…" Knuckles seemed to choke up a little just thinking about it, "…well, it's not like it used to be."

"What was it like before?" Omochao asked innocently, as if Knuckles would've killed him if it were an inappropriate question.

"It was… I guess it you could say it was… lonely."

Omochao seemed unphased at this.

"So what is it like now?"

Knuckles had to admit,

"About… the same."

Though he couldn't truly tell, he had a feeling that Omochao was dumbfounded at his response.

"Look, I don't know…" the echidna admitted. "I just… it doesn't feel as… open as it did before. I feel secluded up there. I feel like I'm using up all of the air up there… for nothing. That's why I've been down here so much."

"Is this related to the doctor, Red?" The little bot asked.

The emerald guardian seemed to choke up more, a cough surfacing as he spoke.

"If it wasn't…" He started as he walked over to the old futon and sat himself down, "I wouldn't feel this way."

"Was there a significant attachment to the doctor in some way or another?" Omochao asked.

"Of course. He was my best friend… the greatest friend I had ever had… and the only friend I had ever had."

Knuckles stared off into the distance, out of a simple square window. He could see the vast ocean, which seemed absolutely endless. To him, the world was beginning to feel empty and colorless; the shack seemed to be drained of its quaint brown texture, and the ocean, along with its sky, was beginning to embrace the world in gray.

But then Omochao brought him back to the workshop.

"Where do you think he is now?" He seemed to ask almost organically.

Knuckles shut his eyes for a moment. To think it only happened five days ago… it was so strange to him.

"I think…" Knuckles worked to present a response, "… I think that… wherever he is… he's finally stopped running."

Knuckles leaned his head back against the futon and looked up to the woodwork of the ceiling. He just he could fall asleep right then and there. But Omochao wasn't finished.

"Is that a good thing… for him to stop running?"

Knuckles peered down at the small Chao-sized bot sitting beside him, pondering the idea.

"From what I saw," He stated, "it's what he'd always wanted."

* * *

**Hello, everybody! Proto once again! Hope you enjoyed Chapter 3! I had lots of fun writing it. I may be busy this weekend, but I'll probably get the next chapter up next week when I got time.**

**This chapter was very interesting. First of all, I put in some OC's. Now, some of you people may not like this, but it'll work out. The story is not really about the OC's… it's Sonic, Silver, and Knuckles. However, we will get to know these people when the time comes. I'll try and give you guys some references s to what these people look like later, so keep your eyes peeled for links and such.**

**Secondly, we got to see Silver (who feels a lot like me to be honest) and Knuckles (who always seemed compelling to me in the first book). We'll get to know these guys more than we ever thought we could in the first book, so this'll be fun. Let me know what you guys think.**

**Anyways, if you have any questions, PM me or put in the review… and, by all means, please Review & Request! Read ya later!**


	5. Portions

**Act I/Chapter IV: Portions**

**Wednesday, June 19****th**

"Let's start off with something simple." Hazel said.

I surveyed the memory before me. Of course, I wasn't sure if it was really my memory, but Hazel continued to assure me that it was. He led me around this forested area, and soon I began to notice something… the colors of the world.

I peered behind me to find… colors… blooming across the land behind me. It was like every step I took was rejuvenating the environment.

"What's with the burst of colors?" I asked.

Hazel, who seemed to grow a bit of a smile, was pleased to see I had noticed the trail behind me.

"This is part of your remembering. Every step you take in this place is bringing it back into your mind. Everywhere we go, you will remember."

And that's when things started to hit me: In this memory, I was… on South Island. Yes! South Island! Small pieces seemed to surface, but I needed more memories to know what had happened there. I needed to see more.

"Where exactly are we headed?" I asked.

Hazel simply slid his eyes over and looked back at me. His smile was still there.

"Your home."

And you know what was sad? I thought to myself,

_A home… I had a home?_

* * *

Hazel and I were watching through the window of an old wooden house. Inside, I could see a living room, with a adult Mobian sitting quaintly on the couch. He had a sort of wrapped gift in his hands, which he placed down on the cushion beside him before walking out of the room and into a hallway.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"You really can't remember much, huh?" Hazel joked. "Ah, well, I can't blame you. That man… was your uncle."

BOOM! Uncle… Uncle… Chuck? Uncle Chuck! I had remembered him! I was starting to string small things together. Uncle Chuck… he was, like, my parent/guardian for me in my life. How could I possibly forget someone like that?

Then more questions started to flood in. I was a curious little hedgehog.

"What's in that box?" I asked with sheer excitement.

"You're about to see…" Hazel answered, drifting his gaze back through the window.

Looking back, I could see Uncle Chuck… holding a little hedgehog's hand. And I suddenly remembered… that… the little guy… was me.

* * *

"Alright, Sonic." Uncle Chuck said. "I want you to sit down here."

Of course, Sonic couldn't refuse. He never refused his uncle. His uncle was a good person, so there was no need to say "no" to him. He took his seat on the couch, and Uncle Chuck sat right next to him.

"Alright, birthday boy. Now close your eyes…"

Sonic did just that. He lifted his palms to his eyes, and he shut his eyelids quickly. He could hear some ruffling coming from in front of him, and he was beginning to become curious. He was a curious little hedgehog.

"No peeking!" Uncle Chuck pointed out to Sonic, as his little nephew shut his eyes back up again.

Moments later, he was satisfied with Uncle Chuck's words.

"Okay, open."

And what Sonic saw right in front of him… it was unbelievably awesome.

It was a pair… of red and white shoes. He fell in love with them. The shiny, metallic red… the cotton white strap draped across it… the golden buckle on the outside of each shoe… they were amazing. And Sonic's eyes couldn't have watered up any more.

"I made them for you. You always burned up your old shoes, so… I made a pair that is used to your activities."

Somehow, the young hedgehog acted like what his uncle just said didn't matter. Yet, just outside of the window, a familiar figure felt the meaning behind his uncle's seemingly meaningless message from his childhood.

The young Sonic cracked, "Oh, thank you! Thank you, Uncle Chuck!"

He swung his arms around Uncle Chuck, and the adult couldn't help but hug him back. However, in the back of his mind, he knew what was going down tonight. And so… a small tear… rolled down his cheek… as if he knew in his heart… that this was the last time he would ever see his nephew.

* * *

"I remember now." I stated.

"What do you remember?" Hazel inquired.

"He went away, and I went to bed. That night… a police officer was at the door… and he told me that… that my uncle was… dead. And I hugged him. And then I went to the orphanage and… I left it. I went away."

"Anything else?" Hazel commented.

"I can't think of anything past that. Is that everything?"

Hazel had a look of dissatisfaction, yet his face still seemed to think this was a typical situation.

"Not quite. We have a little more ways to go. Come on. Let's keep going."

The dragon demigod lifted himself from his seat and began to stroll past the window. But before I made my exit, I took one last peek inside of my uncle's home. I could see me… trying on my shoes. My uncle urged me to start running around, and I did so. It was strange… to watch yourself enjoy life. I just wished I could do that again… at some time or another.

As we left from the archways of the forest, I looked back to see all the color that had bloomed in my wake. The forest seemed so… peaceful. Like a land out of time. It was… just paused. It was beautiful.

I couldn't help but look down at his feet. My shoes were dent, cracked, and burnt. I had no real idea why though. It was so strange to see your life and yet not truly remember it. How could anyone live like that?

On the bright side, I was starting to remember. In portions, yes, but at least I got portions. There was still hope… and Hazel seemed to know just how to make me remember… every single time.

"Where to next, Hazel?" I asked, beginning to remember my attitude. It wasn't fully there, but there was still a part of me floating around in my mind somewhere. I just had to find it and seal it.

"We're gonna jump ahead a couple of years." Hazel confirmed. "I think that'll work out for you."

"How many years?" I persisted.

"About… 11." He stated.

_11, _I wondered to myself, _that number feels important to me._

And I was right.

* * *

"Have you heard that Sonic guy?" A guy began to ask his friend.

"Oh yes! He was in a fight last night!" The other guy stated.

"No way! Really?" The last guy asked back.

"Yes, really! He went into a bar last night, and cleared the place out."

"Why would he do that?"

"Somebody claimed that he didn't get his… 'Chili dogs'… something like that."

"Oh my god! There he is! Act natural!"

The blue drifter walked right on by, weirded out by two men simply leaning against the wall of a printing press with their hands in their pockets. Did they really fear him that much?

Whatever it was, he was just happy to get more respect.

Yes, this man was Sonic… but not the same Sonic. He was a drifter; he simply traveled around the world and lived off of whatever came his way. He was a rebel… true rebel. He got into fights… whether it was in a fighting tournament or in a bar… and usually won every one of them. He was popular and respected. Fame was his game.

He continued to stroll down the city streets, with people giving him either looks of absolute fear or absolute respect. Either way, Sonic liked it.

But soon, a television screen was overrun with another video. The drifter took his time to inspect the screen and move his gaze away, but something pulled him back and kept him there. For some reason… he wanted to know what this was all about.

On the screen was darkness. Absolute darkness. But soon a light peered out from what seemed like a chair. And only moments after that, a man seemed to set himself down in that chair, a reflection beaming off of his elliptical glasses. He was a silhouette, but Sonic knew this man… however he looked… was a threat.

"Hello… people of South Island." The grizzled man began. "Nice to see you all… again. I know it's been a while since I made an announcement. Back when the king went away… oh… how sad that was. It had its tolls, but I'm over it. I'd hope that somebody else besides me has as well."

Sonic really didn't like this guy. He was menacing… almost like he was born with the word "menacing" in mind.

"In any case," the man continued, "that's not the only thing I'm here for. I'm here to say that your island is officially at war."

The blue drifter heard multiple Mobians gasp in horror around him as he droned on about his plans to destroy Mobius.

"No one has any chance of stopping me. I hope you all know that. Not even your 'powerful' queen can save you. And with that, I wish a fond farewell to you… people of South Island."

The grizzly man seemed to reach his arm out to turn a switch off, but his arm soon began to slowly retract itself back. He gave a stern look to the camera (or, at least Sonic assumed he was looking at a camera).

"And one other thing…" The menace added. "I've heard rumors of a special Mobian out there… one who likes to start fights and earn reputation and the what-not. Well, let me just add on that he will not help you either. There is no one to trust… not even this… blue rodent that every one of you speaks of. He is nothing… and you know it. Good day, South Island."

The screen made waves into static, then back to its original showing of a toothpaste commercial… not that toothpaste commercials were a common thing. Nothing like that.

And as soon as the broadcast ended, Sonic felt all eyes shift towards him. And in that moment, he couldn't take the pressure; he had to think before he acted.

Just like that… he was gone.

"What do I do? I can't let this go!" The blue blur continued to nag himself.

This decision was huge. What would he do? There were only two options. He could let this go, and lose loads of respect. Thousands upon thousands of people would never think him as a threat, and he would go from being famous to being "the asshole who left South Island to dry". But then there was the other choice…

"I think…" he said to himself, calming his nerves, "… I think that's what I'll do."

* * *

"What do you remember now?" Hazel asked after viewing, from the edge of a lone rooftop, my younger self, running amongst the city streets.

"I did everything for fame." I fought hard to remember. "When that man showed up on the screen and called me out, I couldn't just stand there and move on. I went to fight him… but only because of the fame and glory I could have."

"What happened to that desire of fame?" Hazel questioned further.

"I… I was doing things for the wrong reasons. He was twisted… rounding up animals and Mobians… stuffing them in huge robotic machinery. It wasn't right. And I knew I couldn't do this for fame and glory any more. I had a real goal now: to help the world by showing them what one lone Mobian could do to change it."

"Exactly that. Good job paying attention, Sonic." Hazel congratulated me.

We both stood up and began our descent down the buildings to the deserted area that still surrounded the world. But soon Hazel stopped me; he commented that it was urgent.

"You do know who that man on the screen was, right?" He asked.

I remember checking behind me, seeing the television in the window off in the distance. Sadly, my impaired memory couldn't process who he was. I shoke my head at Hazel, but he treated this as typical.

"That man is your enemy… Dr. Ivo Robotnik."

BOOM! Robotnik… dastardly evils… robotic minions—Badniks… Sonic vs. "The Eggman"… it all came right back at me like a arrow to the knee.

"Yes… yes, I remember him now. I beat him this time, right?" I inquired with a sense of worry for my future.

"You beat him many times." Hazel confirmed, looking up at the gray-scale sun above us.

But something kept bugging me in my mind.

"Hazel… you said I was close to dying when I ended up here… does that mean that… Robotnik was going to kill me?"

But Hazel just kept gazing up at the sky. His face seemed to consider my question, seemed to have the answer I as looking for, and yet it simply stayed with him… and never left.

"We should keep going." The dragon stated, changing the subject altogether.

"Where to now?"

"We're only going a little further now… a week or so." Hazel explained.

I looked back at the city as we departed from its area. When we were in there, it felt a sunset was descending upon the metropolis. Now, it seemed to blend back in with the empty color scheme, as I left it for another memory. And soon, I felt something click in my head: Central City! I remembered this place. Not much happened here besides a fight tournament or two. I always wished that I had spent more time in that quaint little city.

The next thing that Hazel and I saw was heart-warming. You get the basis of how we do things… do I'll explain what basically happened… what I basically remembered.

* * *

Robotnik was making an escape to another land east of South Island. I hitched on another plane that was headed in at least the same direction. Timing my jump perfectly, I landed on the peak of a mountain on Westside Island. I had only been there once before for some fighting tournament, but that was several years before. The place seemed so barren now.

As I worked my around the island, I was trying to judge where Robotnik was, and I couldn't figure it out for the first hours of the morning. But some yelling and mechanical noises from nearby alerted me. I was certain that the mechanical noises were Robotnik's little Badniks, as he called them. However, I had no clue who was yelling.

I quickly skidded behind a bush and peaked out to find three Badniks… all terrorizing a small animal. It was only a tad smaller than me, but it was still pretty small. The yelling continued, and no one else was around to hear… except me.

I hopped out from the bush and upheld my authority.

"Hey, bolt-brains!" I quickly announced.

The three small monkey Badniks turned towards me, their deadpan faces of stupid staring at me.

"Hey, don't give me that look, young man! You know the punishment: line up according to height for your beat downs!"

They all charged at me, and a few swift kicks reduced to robotic limbs on the ground. My god, it was so much easier to take them out back then. After dusting my shoes, I turned back to the animal.

"You okay?" I asked, but then I noticed what it looked like.

It was a fox… one that had bruises on his body and face, and a small cut at the edge of his ear. His small forehead hair tassels hang solemnly between his blue eyes. Tears were streaming down his face, but now they had ceased, and his mouth was open in awe. This kid… he had been left alone. I had been gone from this island for… maybe five or so years. Where did everyone go? And why did they leave this one lone child here? But then it clicked.

This child was a lot like me, except with a grimmer tale. He had been left alone, and he had decided to live on his own. Sadly the island became violent and scary, with robots roaming its coastlines and forests. He was no longer able to survive without being hurt. This kid hadn't become some different like I had… he had stayed the same, and it didn't get him very far.

The small fox, who I assumed was around 11, didn't say a word in reply. When I knelt to get a better look at him, he flinched and started to curl up into a ball. He didn't want to fight, but neither did I.

"Whoa, lil' buddy, it's okay." I continued, trying to gain his trust with a gentle tone. "You don't have to be afraid."

He only poked one eye from below his arms, but that was all I got. I tried to reach my hand out, but he immediately shrunk back into his ball.

"I'm here to help. Do you think you can tell me what happened?"

Once again, he showed his eye. This time, instead of moving, I continued talking.

"Um… how about your name? Do you have a name?"

He then tilted his head fully upright, showing both of his eyes. He simply shoke his head. This kid had been left stranded on this island, and he didn't have anything… not even a name. I was beginning to respect the name Maurice a bit more now.

"Can you talk?"

I lowered his arms to reveal his furry white muzzle, which was soaked on both cheeks.

"Y…y-yes."

Phew. I thought I was talking to a mime.

"Do you… know what happened here?"

He just started looking around.

"I remember waking up one day, and everyone was gone. And then I saw this scary monster show up. I stayed in my house… or at least I thin it was my house. I remember taking some things and putting them in a bag. I ran away as soon as I got the chance."

The Badniks… they must've… to the people on the island. My god, this kid was living a nightmare.

"When did that happen?"

"I think… I think five years ago."

Wow. He barely knew how long it had been.

But as I began to make sense of it, I noticed his tail… his TWO tails… resting behind him like pillows on a couch.

"What's with the two tails?"

He looked behind him, and then lowered his head, as if he was ashamed of something.

"What's wrong?"

He tried to pick his head back up, but his eyes were glued to the ground.

"It's just that… kids… in my village… they always made fun of me. They kept calling me a… a freak… a freak of nature."

The opposite of what Uncle Chuck called me… a miracle of modern genetics.

"What's wrong with having two tails?"

"Everybody else had one."

He was an outcast. No one loved, even before the Badniks. Wait… did his parents even love him?

"You have a family?"

He simply shoke his head at me. This kid had lost it all, and yet he kept trying to stay alive all these years.

"Listen… kid. I… let's just say I know how you feel."

He looked up at me, his eyes sad and almost in disbelief. And he wasn't wrong with having that expression: he had it rough the most. But I still understood the feelings… I was simply hiding them with the face of Sonic.

I pressed on, saying, "I may not look it, but I've lost people around me too. And I think about them every single day I live. But you know what I did?"

The fox merely stared at me with his stone-cold blue eyes.

"I made myself a new life. I changed my name, how I acted, what I did. I became something different… something unique. I'm a new person, one that enjoys life and its endless possibilities. And that can be you too."

He finally picked his head up, his eyes looking at mine with tears beginning to surface. And then he let out a small smile. But it wasn't any ordinary smile… it was a smile that had been held back for so long… that when it came out… it made the world shine brighter than the sun in my eyes. This was the face of someone who had finally found hope.

"You want to come with me?" I asked slowly.

He pondered for a small moment. He was trying to think and cry at the same time, poor guy.

"Come with you where?" he asked.

I simply smirked at him.

"Anywhere you want."

I reached my hand out to him. I could see him slightly flinch, but he didn't become afraid. And after a few seconds of thinking, he slowly reached out and grasped my hand. As I stood up, I pulled him up with me.

"So… where to first, Tails?" I inquired.

He gave me an odd look, one that would later be given to me again a couple years later.

"Tails?"

"Gotta call you somethin', don't I? What do you think?"

He smiled in agreement.

"Well, I want to get rid of these bad robots."

"Wait… really? I thought you scared of 'em."

He simply stood by my side, looking at me with a determined face.

"I have a friend now. I'm not scared anymore."

I smirked at him.

"You have more than a friend, Tails."

He looked at me in wonder.

"You have a brother."

* * *

And even though this memory was shrouded in darkness, as I admitted to Hazel, I still knew Tails before this memory. To me, it seemed that something must've happened with Tails so recently before my death that he was burned into my mind. Maybe that meant something. Maybe it didn't. I didn't know what to go off of. However, something was beginning to hold true: I was remembering. Hazel had been keeping me on the right track… I just had to keep following… and I'd remember everything.

Maybe a bit more than everything.

* * *

**What's up, everybody? Proto here again! Hope you enjoyed Chapter IV! I swear… why is this book so much fun to write?!**

**Sonic's past… it's something we don't see very often… it's never usually explored. Well, I guess it is now. I'm overly excited about this. I'm making an interpretation about my interpretation. How the heck does that work? And hey… what do you think of me fitting "Façade" in there like that? Impressive… probably not, actually.**

**By the way, what do you guys think of Hazel? Way past cool? Not so way past cool? Give me your thoughts. Just want to make sure how's he doing as a new character.**

**Anyways, if you have any questions, PM me or put in the review… and, by all means, please Review & Request! Read ya later!**


	6. Westside Story

**Act I/Chapter V: Westside Story**

**Tuesday, June 18****th**

The sprawling landscape of mountains after mountains seemed ginormous to Silver's eyes. He had never seen as grand a locale as this one. Sure, South Island had its moments. Hell, a lot of the places around the world held some great views. But the majesty of the planet's points, bounding from the surface and barely scraping the night sky… it was simply breathtaking.

"Welcome to Westside." Harkness claimed as Silver continued to marvel at the land.

In the canyons between the mountains, forests spread like wildfire. Along the side of each mountain, Silver could see cliff sides that resembled pathways, spiraling around each mountainside. Again, he almost couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Take in that view, boy." Harkness told Silver. "You're gonna miss it when you're gone."

Harkness patted Silver on the back, and began to make his way back into the house. But someone else didn't like what he had just told the white hedgehog.

"Gone?" Tia asked her father.

Harkness turned around, knowing that she'd argue again sooner or later.

"Yes, Tia." Tia's father confirmed. "This kid obviously isn't where he lives. He needs to go back to his home."

Silver seemed hurt by what he had said. It wasn't Harkness's fault… that he didn't know Silver was a drifter… now that Blaze was gone.

"But… he can help us!" Tia persisted.

The white hedgehog snapped out of his trance of depression at the word "help".

"Help with what?" Silver inquired.

"Oh, Gods, have mercy…" Harkness muttered to himself.

Tia disregarded her father's complaint and explained.

"You see, my father and I… we're archaeologists. We've been searching this island for a few years now, but we think that we've found it."

"Wait… found what?" Silver asked, now absolutely interested by this discovery.

"It's none of your business." Harkness blurted out.

"Dad, he can…" Tia began.

"No, he can't!" Harkness proclaimed. "He's just some random hedgehog who fell in the forest. Who the hell knows where he came from? He's a complete stranger!"

Silver wanted to stop the altercation, but thought it safe to sit this one out. Maybe the odds would be more in his favor if he stayed back.

"I know he can, Dad! I know it." Tia persisted.

"Okay, then, Tia." Harkness decided calmly. "Prove that Sulfur…"

"Silver." The white hedgehog corrected.

"Silver! Sorry… prove to me that Silver is important to us."

Tia took one look at Silver, and quickly darted her eyes back at her father. Silver could feel the tension rising, waiting for her answer.

"The marks…" she answered. "The marks on his gloves."

Silver was perplexed at her response at first, but soon took a look at his gloves, and found that there were markings on them. The marks let him know he was using his psychokinetic powers… which he couldn't use anymore since his rings were now either gone or destroyed. Either way, the marks were there as a symbol of his power: psychokinesis.

Tia soon stormed over to his gloves and showcased them to her father. Harkness seemed about as confused as Silver was only moments ago, but his face soon changed. His eyes seemed to widen, and his mouth hung agape. Something about Silver's glove marks was important to this family of archaeologists… and Silver had no freaking idea how.

"He's one of them…" Harkness whispered.

Tia simply nodded at her father's words, and Silver… he was just… completely lost.

Thankfully, Harkness noticed his dumbfounded expression.

"Come to my study. I'll explain everything." He told.

And so the three squirmed into the house.

* * *

**Sunday, June 23****rd**

"Today was his birthday." The echidna reminded himself

Knuckles sat on the stairs of the Emerald shrine. There was not much else for him to do during the nights besides sit there and "guard". The idea of guarding the Emerald seemed pointless now. Who was gonna steal it anymore? The threat had passed. The last prophecy had been fulfilled. What else was there left to do? Why even guard the dumb rock anymore? He was just lost, with nothing to do but wonder why he was there to begin with. Yet it actually made sense, from what he remembered.

* * *

_**Centuries earlier…**_

_The cliff sides of the island left me in wonder, but left my father in fear. I always wanted to venture out and see the lower world, but my father never wanted any of it. He assured me that the island was corrupt, that I'd lose the echidna tradition. Looking back on it now… I suppose I have, but with good reason._

_But one day changed everything._

_When I was only a mere five-years old, I was lying in the grass, taking in the sunlight and enjoying what a glorious day the Gods had bestowed upon me. I felt strong… powerful… I felt like I could lie there all day. Gods, how I wish I had…_

_But the beckoning calls of my father drew me from my relaxed state, telling me to stand up and come to him at once. He sounded afraid of something. I was not sure what, but I knew that anything that scared my father could scare anyone. I hurried to my father, who soon welcomed me in his arms._

"_What is wrong, Father? Have the people rebelled or something?" I asked._

"_No." He assured me. "No, nothing like that. Just… follow me. I'll show you the way."_

_And so I followed. Fleeing through the grassy lands of the island to the Great Mountain (which wasn't all that great, to be honest), my father pointed to his fear among the crowd of panicking echidnas: a sandstorm… huge, deadly, and gritty. I couldn't see anything through the sand and dirt that flew amongst its area. My father was afraid… because it was coming towards the island. And I too began to fear as much as he had._

_We ran through the mountain's cave, ending up at the Emerald shrine. At this point, specks of sand were beginning to fly over the mountain; it was only a matter of time before… no, I couldn't dwell on it. I had to keep up with Father._

_He ducked into a nearby open room in the mountain's walls. His arm jutted out, stopping me from going any further. He knelt down and held onto my shoulders, and I just knew he was going to do something that I wouldn't like._

"_Okay… okay, I only have time to say this once, so… please listen."_

"_Father, what do you mean?" I asked him, becoming slightly light-headed._

"_Me… the people… we're gonna be… gone for… a while."_

"_Father, what are you talking about?"_

"_Son! I don't have time for questions! Just let me talk!"_

_That shut me up good, but it hurt a little inside. The ferocity behind it…_

"_Look, these capsules… they hold people in a long sleep. For however long the person decides. And you're gonna be one of those people."_

"_But…" I began to ask, "…what about you?"_

_He took in a deep breath, and I found no answer._

"_When you get up… you will have a very important job. It'll be hard… it'll be painful… but it'll be the simplest thing you've ever done."_

_I straightened my back, and prepared for my new task._

"_I want you…" he started, pointing to the shrine just outside, "…to the guard that emerald. Guard it with your life."_

_I began to walk over to one of the capsules, but took one look back at Father. He did not say anything; he simply looked at me, a forced smile plastered on his face. He knew it… we both knew it. This was the last time we'd ever see each other ever again._

_And I ran back and hugged him… so tight that the winds outside would never carry away as long I kept holding him. And he hugged me back._

_Then I got in the capsule. The last I ever saw of my old life was my father waving at the me, turning towards the entrance, walking into the storm, and disappearing… forever._

_And then I fell asleep._

_I woke up many centuries later. The capsule I was in… it seemed to have cracked. And soon my senses returned to me one by one. I broke out of my capsule, and began to make my way out onto the island._

_It looked beautiful… the grass had a shade of green I had never seen before, and the stone's archaic look suited the structure better than any echidna had hoped. The whole place seemed to pick up a new color scheme while I had been asleep. And to think I was still the same age._

_I had become a time traveller. I was only five when my father had put me in that capsule, and here I was no… standing at the foot of the shrine, at the same age. It felt weird to realize how displaced I felt now, even though I was on the same island._

_Every step I took up the stairs felt strange. I was technically walking on history. Only seconds ago, I was sitting in a capsule, saying goodbye to the only family I had left. And yet I was here in the now. How do you manage that… walking on history, knowing you were just there?_

_At the top of the steps, I found the Master Emerald… waiting for me. Its green glow was mesmerizing, and I could only wonder how beautiful it looked now in comparison to back then. I never saw the Master Emerald much when I was with Father, so this was a very different feeling for me. To stand in front of the Emerald, at my own accord… it felt like an honor._

_And then I remembered my father's words…_

"_I want you to the guard that emerald. Guard it with your life."_

_And so one day changed everything._

* * *

He was the child of the past… but Knuckles was not the only one who felt the same way.

* * *

**Tuesday, June 18th**

"You're a time-traveller." Harkness stated, sitting at the dining table, which had a large open book upon it, with Tia and her friend.

"I'm sorry, what was I again?" Silver asked, as if this one thing… out of everything on Mobius… was the weirdest.

"Okay… I know it sounds ridiculous, but just listen to me." Harkness began to explain. "We have volumes of books on the legends and mythos of Mobius. Among these myths that roam history… the ultimate lifeform, the child of the past, the blue blur—that one's pretty important—and many more… sits the time-traveller. The time–traveller is said to have telekinetic abilities that far surpass those of the usual sort… the power is called 'psychokinesis'."

Silver seemed to buy into this, and leaned on the table as a sign to Harkness to keep going.

"It is said that he is brought into this world from some other time. He does not know he is from that time… he simply lives in this world as if it were his own, with no recollection of his past. His actions do not affect his past history. He is sent from one time period to another, and remains there… like a punishment."

"So…" Silver tried to figure, "…you're saying I'm from the future?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but…" Harkness seemed to falter, but soon regained himself, "…here, let's test and see. Think of your parents. What were they like?"

The white hedgehog peered to his right, beginning to remember his parents. But… he didn't remember anything… nothing but Blaze, Sonic, and the explosion. Obviously, there was much more to his life, but he had forgotten the most important part… that part that was actually his life.

"You don't remember…" Harkness assumed, "…do you?"

And Silver was swept from his memory loss, only able to deliver a small shake of his head.

"So… this isn't really my life, then?" Silver asked.

"Of course it's your life!" Tia answered almost angrily, soon dropping to a calmer tone. "It's just not the one you could've had."

Silver had no clue what to think… he had no clue who he was… was he even supposed to be this? What could he have been if he was still in the future? Furthermore, what did he do to be sent from the future into the past?

Harkness's concerns for the time-traveller surfaced, "I know it's a lot to take in. To be frank, somebody, somewhere… is looking into the stuff we are… and he'd probably tell you the same thing."

Though the white hedgehog was vigorously searching his mind for anything of who he once was (without much success), he soon turned his attention away from himself and dwelled (slowly, but surely) on the other problem that brought him in that room to begin with.

"Well," Silver began, trying to hold in his pain and suffering, "you're not wrong about that. But… why does this matter to you two? What is it you're looking for?"

Harkness exchanged a look with Tia, who delivered a stern look in his direction. Harkness believed that Silver was the time-traveller—just like in the myths—but he still wasn't sure if the white hedgehog could be trusted. But the smidge of anger behind Tia's eyes was pushing him towards acceptance. He supposed it was for the best; besides, he figured this might actually help Silver. Maybe their search could him with his search for home… at least, he assumed he was going to search for it.

The hardened wolf shifted in his seat as he crossed his fingers over the open book. He leaned into the table, as if what he was about to say was to be the greatest secret ever told. Silver leaned forward as well, listening for Harkness's words to present themselves.

"We've had a long family history. Throughout the ages, we've been keeping track of a family secret… something that only we know about. No one else… not the echidnas, as far we can tell… knew about it. Problem is we couldn't really find out what this secret truly was… until now."

Silver was intrigued, more so than he thought. It had occurred to him that he was taking all of this in fairly well, especially for a guy whose life is not really true. But he had one policy... one thought that coursed through his mind: the need to help those in need.

Tia came in and continued the explanation, "This secret… we never really knew what it was until we got closer and closer to it. More books and documents surfaced… and we soon had a grasp on what we were dealing with. This thing has painted our family's history for decades upon decades, and now we have our chance of finding it."

Silver butted in, "But what is this secret? And why is it yours only?"

Harkness chimed in with an answer, "No one else has cared enough to hear about our discoveries. They wouldn't care to hire us, let alone know what we've found. Guess we hit a gold mine with you. In any case, this little secret… it's not some small artifact or fragile object. You could see like such, but it's much more than that. It's… well, there's one way to put it. It's sort of… supernatural."

Now the time-traveller was really brought into this. Something supernatural? This felt important to him. In fact, it looked like a ticket to his previous and more prevalent goal: finding Blaze. Could this be the way to go?

But he didn't want his selfish reasons to get in the way. This family obviously needed the help, and he wanted to deliver.

"You're not weirded out by that?" Tia asked, noticing Silver's stoic expression of interest.

Silver heard her words and quickly stopped his train of thought and continued with reality.

"Not really." Silver admitted. "I've become… accustomed to things like these."

"How? What have you done for something like this to be normal?" The adorkable wolf questioned.

The white hedgehog wanted to be forthright, but it would seem as if he had been lying before. He didn't want to lose their trust, and he had figured a way out quickly so the secret could be presented

"Well, someone I knew was stuck in a storybook, and has taken down giant lizards… twice, so I suppose I'd be used to it."

"Wait… you know Sonic the Hedgehog?" Harkness asked with a peak of interest in his voice.

"That would be the idea, yeah." Silver said, hoping this wouldn't make a huge tangent from the whole "secret" thing.

"Extraordinary." Harkness simply put. "Never thought you'd be caught with him."

"Yeah…" Silver replied. "You could say I've had too much of him."

Harkness smirked while Tia snickered a little. Bit by bit, Silver began to feel that this small family was beginning to trust him. He was grateful for that. Guess Sonic was a good topic to bring up.

Funny… Silver didn't even know that, at that same moment, Sonic was resting up for a big fight… one that was to be his last. Or so people were to think.

"But about this secret…" Silver started back up again, as the wolves worked back into the subject, "… How does this apply to me? And I still have no idea what it is!"

The toughened hound across the table began to explain further once again, "Our family secret… is that of a spirit. It is no ordinary spirit. It's not some ghost that haunts a house or a cave… not a transparent genie that grants us wishes. It is the worst of the worst. This spirit… it symbolizes the evils of the Inner Demon."

"Inner Demon, you say?" The time-traveller repeated. "So, like, that whole idea of a darker side of ourselves?"

Tia worked to confirm, "Basically, yes. We all have inner demons. They are usually always based off of a childhood experience, one that has most likely taken a toll on the host."

"And this spirit… it exploits that inner demon?" Silver assumed.

"Exactly that." Harkness confirmed, slightly surprised Silver pieced that together himself. "People have said that visions of the spirit, once it has taken its hold on the inner demon, become recurrent as long as said spirit dwells within the body. It feeds off of negative energy, so the more a person denies its inner demon's existence and such, the more likely that individual will die from insanity or commit suicide."

Tia gave a sharp look over at her father, and Silver noticed the exchange.

"Laying down the details too much, sir?" The white hedgehog asked with concern.

"Sorry. Got into the subject a little too much. We haven't talked to many people about this, so… you'll have to excuse us for that."

Silver chuckled a little as he leaned back in his seat.

"It's all good, 'cause I'm in."

The wolves almost fell out of their chairs at his response. What did he just say?

"Wait… you'll help us?" Tia inquired.

"Of course. If I've learned anything from watching Sonic, I know that everyone needs help some way or another. And I seem to be very important in these myths, so I suppose it's something I can't avoid."

"Wow… well, thank you loads, Silver. I'm happy that you listened to us with interest. We haven't met many people like you before, so… again, thank you."

Could the time-traveller's life contain any more gratitude and respect than it was getting? Silver tried not to let the selfish feelings behind this get to him, but he did slightly revel in the joy of it all.

"When do we start?" Silver asked with a smirk plastered on his muzzle.

"That's the best part. We think we found the cave that the spirit—as it has been written in ancient documents—has dwelled in for centuries! It's several miles from this cabin, but it's close by. We just haven't gone in because…"

Tia seemed too shy to admit the real reason, so Harkness decided to defend her.

"We didn't have enough equipment for an expedition like…"

But the Silver rightly interrupted.

"It's okay if you admit that you were scared. I've been scared plenty of times, probably more than you two combined. Trust me when I say this: in order to be brave, you have to first be afraid."

A smile resonated across each wolf's face. Silver was making an impression, and he knew it was important to do so.

"We'll head out tomorrow afternoon, just after 12." Harkness explained.

Silver was ready. He didn't know what to expect of this new expedition… what it could mean for him if the spirit took hold of his inner demon… but he knew that he was helping this family with a problem that had been a bother for decades upon decades. And soon, he dwelled on a new thought as he looked out the back window as the two wolves convened at the counter behind him.

Sonic, as Silver had remembered from hours ago, was dealing with his own family history. Though he didn't know how the blue hedgehog dealt with it, Silver knew that Sonic had been trying to solve it… possibly for years. And, as Silver peaked from the corners of his eyes at the two chatting wolves behind him, he figured something out: his past was gone. He couldn't remember anything further back than the age of 14 (seemingly the age he arrived in the present time. He was now 17, just like Sonic).

Now, if his past was gone… he had no real family. But, looking at the two wolves… he decided that the search for family had started and ended in the same instant. If he was to have any family, he would choose this one in a heartbeat… and he barely knew who they were. He thought to himself, _If Sonic is searching through his family history, then I suppose I'll look through "mine"._

In Silver's mind, he had found family. Now, he just had to hold it together.

* * *

**What's up, everybody? Proto here! Sorry for the long wait; exams and such got in the way. But this next chapter is out, so I hope you enjoyed.**

**Considering these are new perspectives, with a specific cast of characters for each one, I have to coordinate the messages, situations, and solutions carefully. It's like a fitting together a planet-sized jigsaw puzzle (I was wondering if I could fit that in there somewhere). Please, tell me what you think of each perspective and its characters.**

**Also, new location: Westside Island! You excited? Because I am! This means new stages! Westside is presented in Sonic 2, so look for any zones from that game that you'd like to see presented in this new book. This has become one of the book quirks, so please leave your suggestions in the reviews or a message. Can't wait to see what people say.**

**Anyways, if you have any questions, please PM me or leave it in the review. And by all means… Review & Request! Read ya later!**


	7. More Than Meets The Eye

**Act I/Chapter VI: More Than Meets The Eye**

**Wednesday, June 19****th**

Hazel continued to lead me through memory after memory, each one feeling more familiar from the last. However, none of them did me in; even after several seemingly life-changing events, I still didn't have any solid idea who I was now. And Hazel could see it. My expressionless face during the last couple of memories gave it away. He kept trying to explain it all, but it just wasn't working… and it was obvious that he was becoming frustrated.

"How are you not remembering more than what I show you?" He asked me, after viewing my first real fight with Knuckles in the Hidden Palace.

I shrugged in response. "I don't really know. You seem to be the only one who knows who I am. Frankly, I'm just confused. All of this seems familiar, but… you keep saying it's in the past. I want to know about my present."

My eagerness seemed to calm Hazel a bit, but he seemed to restrain his actions as he explained.

"Well… I can't tell you about the present just yet." He stated. "I really shouldn't be frustrated about your not remembering, though. It's all part of the process."

The word "process" intrigued me. I never thought someone like a demigod would use the word "process".

"What process?" I asked.

"What we're doing right now." Hazel answered looking back at the past risen memories and watching the next one rise up. "This process of remembrance, as the Gods tend to call it, has a certain layout to it. The people in this forgetting state must be shown small events of their life. Little by little, the small events will pile up. Those past events will all help to the one thing that can help the person remember: the 'central event', as they call it."

"Central event? What is that?" I asked with blatant interest. To be honest, it was just fun to hear the dragon demigod explain this stuff. I had never been shown this world of his… this world of Gods. I constantly wanted to hear more. Maybe I would learn something.

"The 'central event' is basically the cure to your forgotten memories." Hazel went on. "It is the one event in your life that will make you remember everything. Once we reach the 'central event', you'll remember everything about your life… even the small details we may have skipped over before."

"Why don't we head to the 'central event' right now, then?" I inquired. "It'd make your job a hell of a lot easier."

While the memory continued to rise from the sands, Hazel considered my point, but clearly had practiced the answer beforehand.

The dragon shoke his head in reply, "Not safe yet. There's a formula to this. If I showed you the 'central event' right now, you would go crazy… reject everything you are. You'd go crazy, and you wouldn't believe a word I said. Plus, you'd probably die by the amount of memory being shoved into your head. So instead, by showing you some past events before the 'central event', you aren't flooded with as much knowledge, and can come to terms with it easier."

That made more sense to me. I probably wouldn't have believed him if the big event was first. But I was still curious.

"When did this 'central event' take place?"

Hazel looked over at me, slightly afraid of what to say. He didn't want to say too much, or else I'd reject everything he had shown me. However, he clearly wanted me to come back to life… get out of the limbo quickly. He didn't want to leave me hanging.

"It was… pretty recent." He simply put.

I nodded. It was all I needed to shut up about the subject.

And so we continued with the memories, working with my mind to create myself again.

* * *

Later on, Hazel showed an event from when I was 15 years old. I will say one thing to start off this memory… one thing that truly puzzled me the whole time: it felt very surreal seeing myself stuck headfirst in the sand of a small beach resort.

He told me about when this took place: it was during a very serendipitous quest to find these… Chaos Emeralds… before Robotnik used them to create a… massive… water beast. Yeah, it confused me, too. Then again, so did half of the memories I had seen in that deserted land.

Hazel and I watched as the past Sonic fought to release himself from the deep sands. It was honestly quite funny, watching myself act like an idiot with my head in the sand. Well… funny until you realize that your guide is laughing at you, not with you. But it was all right… I mean, at least we laughed. From what I remember from my time in the limbo… Hazel rarely even smiled. It was a welcome change.

Soon, my past self was freed from the dust of the beach. Shaking his head, he worked his way up to his legs and began to take a look around. For some reason, he seemed like he was lost… but it wasn't that the place he landed wasn't familiar… it was that something familiar about the place wasn't there.

"Tails?" He kept shouting, over and over again. There he was again. It seemed that in every memory Hazel was showing me, Tails was either mentioned or shown. The fox must've been an important person if he kept insisting on memories with the little guy.

"Is Tails supposed to be there with me?" I asked Hazel quietly.

"The plane you were in got hit by cannon fire." The demigod explained. "You both went down, but you ended up in different places… and speak up! It's not like your past self is gonna hear you. We can't interfere with memories."

But Hazel's face told me the secret: "At least… we're not _supposed_ to interfere."

After the small exchange with Hazel, I turned back to my past self. He seemed to panic like a maniac. Tails seemed to be very important to him. He fell to his knees, almost about to break down, giving into the idea of Tails being…

Wait… hold on a moment… what is… what is that?

I noticed something that didn't seem to be in place with everything else… and Hazel soon caught on. As my past self fell to his knees, panicking and praying, I saw… a shadow. It wasn't any ordinary shadow, though… not like the ones we find roaming alongside us on the sidewalk or in the fields. It was almost like… a person. Worst of all… it looked like me.

At least, in terms of shape. It was an oily black silhouette, yet it moved like any normal Mobian… except with a more sinister feeling. All along its edges, the shadows in the shape seemed to ooze off of and onto the silhouette. And worst of all… its eyes… were glowing yellow. Not the bright warming yellow of the sun, but the pale sickly yellow of a dying a light. They contained nothing, and could see everything.

The shadow seemed to fall out of my past self, as if it were being thrown from a train. It slowly stood itself and scanned the broken hedgehog before itself. And of course, as Hazel and I watched this weird monstrosity, which started to look my past self over, I had the urge to nudge Hazel for some answers. Turns out That I actually did it without my own consent.

"What is… that thing… is that supposed to be there?" I pestered the demigod.

"No… no, he's not." Hazel stated. He was just as perplexed as I was.

The shadow seemed to creep around my past self, almost as if it were trying to intimidate it.

"What is it then?" I asked. "Why is it here? Why is it here in my head?"

Hazel seemed at a loss of words, but he tried to answer me anyway.

"It's… well… listen, Sonic. I was never told where you are being teleported to right now. I can't look up to the Gods right now because time is frozen. Nothing is happening… nothing will ever happen unless I release from this state. But… I fear the possibility of you coming back now."

"Wait… you don't want me to come out of this?" I angrily repeated his words. "And why the hell is that?"

Hazel almost cowered at my anger. It seemed to me that he had never imagined me angry. Frankly I didn't think I had ever been angry before. It felt new.

Even so, the dragon stood his ground. "Believe me, Sonic, when I say that I want you to live. We've wanted you to live. You living is important… to me, at least. I merely fear the consequences of doing so."

It took me only a second to figure it out, as I took another look at the shadowy figure, kneeling next to my past self, seeming to whisper menacingly into his ear. For a moment, I thought that I could hear its sounds, weaving through my mind… seeming to twist my thoughts. It was messing with me. I turned back to Hazel.

"What is that thing doing to me?" I asked promptly.

My demigod partner calmed himself and began to speak again, "The gods have prophesized about this sort of thing. Its name passes my mind, but its ability fails to avoid it. That thing… it lives off of breaking people. It thrives on the darkest secrets of your past and personality. It lives off of your inner demons."

Inner demons… I never thought things would get so supernatural. Then again, I was talking to a demigod in the deserts of my mind, so… I digress.

"That's where you become a problem, Sonic." Hazel stated after viewing the shadowy figure once more. "From you've seen, you've lived a life full of darkness and misunderstanding. And yes, you've moved on through it all… but the evil is still there. Your present self, as of right now, is a product of all of this. Your good decisions… and your bad ones. You live for the good ones… but this thing… it thrives on showing you the bad ones."

"What are you trying to say?" I asked. Though it seemed to make sense, I needed to make sure.

Hazel took a deep breath. This was hard for to come to terms with. It seemed that that shadowy figure was not something he intended to show. It was clear that this shadow was not actually part of the memory; my past self didn't look into its eyes… not once, and not ever.

"It's a manifestation of you bad thoughts." Hazel stated. "It represents you… if you were never good… if you were never Sonic."

And so I came to a revelation. My uncle Chuck… some more memories began to surface after Hazel said "never Sonic". I remembered… notes… entries of a journal… he was writing about me… about my abilities. "Miracle of modern genetics"… something like that. He did say that I had another name… a name that neither he nor I favored in any way.

He wrote it with maliciousness, like he never wanted to write it down on paper, but knew that it had to be… to see how far I had come. He never did see how far I had come… but I was sure that he could see how much I hated the name. He later mentioned my walking speed to be that of a sonic boom. That, of course, influenced the name of the mask I wore after escaping the orphanage. Yes… more memories. It was working. I was slowly remembering.

But that name… the name that I resent… the name that should never have been written… it's just as burnt into my mind as Sonic. It was such an ordinary name… but it held something beneath that exterior. A mundane name… giving way to a level of opposite that wasn't even funny. I was Sonic. That's what Hazel told me.

But if I was never Sonic… if Uncle Chuck had never tried to raise me… I would have been a much different person. I would become dark.

I would become my enemy.

I would become Maurice.

* * *

**Golly, I'm sorry for the long wait, everybody! Consider this my late Christmas present and New Years gift! Again, sorry for the wait! And speaking of sorry…**

… **I apologize for the lack of length to this chapter. But though this content didn't reach 8-10 pages like the usual chapter, it gave important info, which works just fine. As long as you guys know what's going on, I know I've done my job. I promise, the next chapter will actually have some more length to it.**

**This chapter introduces something quite important. This shadow… it's not just some weird phenomenon in Sonic's head. I'm sure you'll figure it out… but not all is what it seems.**

**I thank all of those wonderful people who have stuck with me this far, and I hope to entertain you further this January onward! Look forward to the next chapter in the next few days! I promise you that!**

**Anyways, ****if you have any questions, PM me or put in the review… and, by all means, please Review & Request! Read ya later!**


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